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“What the Internet has already achieved disrupting commerce,” he warns, “it’s about to do to finance, remaking the very places where we live.” (Ben Miller, co-founder of Fundrise.com)

Fundrise.com has launched a platform that allows small-scale investors to collectively finance real estate. Kevin Cavenaugh’s “Fair-Haired Dumbbell,” one of Fundrise’s first projects, has already garnered commitments well exceeding the $1.5M target offering. Kevin will share his enthusiasm for community-based financing of real estate and direct experience working with the Fundrise.com. Does this funding model have the potential to revolutionize the built environment by changing who’s writing the checks for it? Let’s find out!

Kevin Cavenaugh, Loeb Fellow ’08 and owner of Guerrilla Development, is a designer and developer from Portland, Oregon. He has created a practice based on the principle of wearing as many hats as possible in the construction of a building. He typically serves as developer, designer, long-term owner and property manager. He has most recently completed three buildings in Portland neighborhoods that use unconventional materials, exhibit strong environmental sensitivity, and bring lively uses to the street. By serving as his own developer, he can decide which risks he wants to take. By owning the buildings after they are complete, he brings the discipline of reasonable operating costs to the design process. And by serving as the property manager, he generates feedback for his future development/design projects.

“Changing Portland 3,000 square feet at a time,” Kevin continues to launch innovative developments with designs as creative as the names are fun. Past projects include the “Burnside Rocket,” “Dr. Jim’s”, “Ode to Rose’s,” “The Box & One,” and “The Ocean.” Current ones include “The Fair-Haired Dumbbell,” “The Zipper,” and “Two/Thirds.” His buildings includes such innovations as a well that brings water from 300 below ground (thus requiring less energy to heat it and cool it), an edible green roof that serves as a food source for a fourth floor restaurant, and sliding window-shading panels designed by 26 different artists.

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